Bird Life Tieng Anh-01.qxd - Birdlife International in Indochina

People’s Commitee in 1997. This proposed the establishment of a 13,696 ha nature reserve,
comprising a strict protection area of 4,463 ha, a forest rehabilitation area of 7,695 ha and an
administration and services area of 1,538 ha. However, the reserve has not yet been decreed by
the government, nor a management board established. Thai Thuy is not included on the list of
Special-use Forests to be established by 2010, prepared by the FPD of MARD. Currently, two local
community groups are involved in management of the site: Thuy Truong and Thuy Xuan Commune
Environment Groups in the north and south respectively.
Vegetation. The principal species of coastal areas are Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, Kandelia candel,
Aegiceras corniculatum and Acanthus ilicifolia. The main tall species present, up to 3–4 m high,
is Sonneratia caseolaris, which has been reduced to 3–6 trees/m2 through cutting, and there are also
scattered trees of Avicennia latana, B. gymnorrhiza and Aegiceras corniculatum. In the broken
margins of alluvial soils Acanthus ilicifolius is developing well and Aegiceras corniculatum and
B. gymnorrhiza sometimes up to 1.5 m tall are found. Phragmites vallatonia occurs mainly in
aquacultural ponds adjacent to the estuary. In marshy areas between the dyke and the river B.
gymnorrhiza, Aegiceras corniculatum and K. candel grow. Although plants are 5–7 years old
they are only 0.7–1 m tall. Vegetation along dyke and pond margins includes Ziziphus oenoplia,
Datura metel, Clerodendrum inerme, Premma intergrifolia, Lantana camara, Pandanus affinis and
Derris trifoliata, and the recently recorded, climbing Cayratia trifolia. Much Calotropis gigantea
has developed in patches 10–20 m long and 1–2 m wide. Several grass species maintain the soils
along the dyke and throughout several herb species occur, including Crinum asiaticum and
Acrostichum aureum.
Socio-economic issues. Around 29,000 people at a density of 2,300/km2 live in the region of Thai
Thuy, Thai Thuy district, in three communes; Thuy Truong, Thuy Xuan and Thuy Hai. The largest
is Thuy Xuan commune with 11,000 people at a density of 3,000/km2 . Most live in the centre of
the community and along the sea dykes. The economy of Thuy Xuan and Thuy Hai communes is
based on fishing, aquaculture and salt production, with 70% of the people involved in fishing and
aquaculture, 20% involved in salt production. Thuy Xuan, Thuy Hai communes and Diem Dien
town produce roughly 60% of the district’s total aquaculture production. Thuy Truong commune
is largely involved in agriculture, mainly rice production, which is cropped twice a year, up to 10
tonnes per ha, and any aquaculture is located outside the main dyke in concrete-banked ponds 5
ha in size. Mangrove and grasses are grown in the ponds to prevent wave and storm damage. There
is small-scale trade associated with the aquaculture and agriculture industries.
Important avifauna. Thai Thuy is one of the most important wintering areas for migratory birds
in the Red River Delta, with around 100 species recorded at the site during 2005/2006 including
six globally threatened or Near-Threatened species. Notably these included a maximum of 288
Saunders’s Gulls Larus saundersi, some 3.4% of the Asian biogeographic (global) population, 2 and
four individuals of the increasingly rare Spoon-billed Sandpiper Eurynorhynchus pygmeus. The
others were two species of duck; Baer’s Pochard Aythya baeri and Ferruginous Pochard A. nyroca,
and two raptors; Greater Spotted Eagle Aquila clanga and Imperial Eagle A. heliaca, although the
site is not likely to hold significant populations of any of these. All except the last of these threatened
species are newly reported from the site, but of concern is the fact that the small populations of
Chinese Egret Egretta eulophotes, Black-headed Ibis Threskiornis melanocephalus and Black-faced
Spoonbill Platalea minor have apparently dwindled and disappeared over the last decade (Tordoff
(ed.) 2002). The site continues to remain important for many species of shorebirds, herons, gulls
and passerines. Of particular note are 503 Great Egrets Casmerodius albus (2% of the Asian
biogeographic population) reported in January 2006, 520 Common Greenshanks Tringa nebularia
(close to 550, 1% of the Asian biogeographic population) in December 2005 and 253 Gull-billed
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